San Francisco – Florida’s three standout seniors and its deep bench continued to bring energy until it became very difficult for Maryland’s “Crab Five”.
Coach Todd Golden could see his gaters wearing terrapins.
Will Richard scored 15 points, Alija Martin added 14 points and seven rebounds, and the number 1 Seed Florida played a stable second half on Thursday night with a win of 87-71 in the West Region Finals of the NCAA tournament and the NCAA tournament.
Walter Clayton Junior provided 13 points and four assistance as senior leaders of Florida and his deep supporting artists reduced the hardworking start of Maryland – one of the concerns in the matchup of Terrapies coach Kevin Willard.
“We come with great energy,” Florida Reserve Danzel Aberdeen said, who scored 12 points in 19 minutes. “Just everyone is getting ready, whatever the name is, I think what we did.”
Freshman sensation Deric Queen scored 27 points to lead Maryland (27–9), guiding the program in Willard’s final game.
“I think his bench really wore us down,” Willard said.
Florida (33–4) asked the third seed to play against Texas Tech on Saturday, who defeated number 10 Seed Arkansas 85-82 in overtime in late Thursday at the Chess Center.
Gaters, after 2017, first committed 13 of their 17 turnover in the first half, demanding the last four berths in Sweet 16 and the first four berths of the program since 2017, but took better care of the ball in the last 20 minutes. According to ESPN Research, Florida extends the 10th time in the history of the program and before 2017, the Elite forwards eight.
Florida defended NCAA Champion Ucon twice in the first round and won the ninth consecutive Sweet 16 games since the round began in 1975.
“The message was simple: we have to take care of the ball,” Golden, the third year coach of the gates, said Golden.
Crab Five – The specialty of Julian, brother of WNBA star Angel Reese, who was in a stand to cheer his sister – returned to the first half when it seemed that Florida could pull away. Queen, who hit a buzzer-batter in the 72-71 win over the Colorado state on Sunday, shot 8-for-17 and made all 10 free throw.
Clayton, Martin and Richard jointly combined for 42 points, and three others scored in double figures for Florida. The senior trio scored 56 of the 77 points of the gates in a two -point win against Uconn last Sunday. It sent coach Golden back to the Bay Area, where he played for St. Mary and coached at the University of San Francisco before taking a Florida job.
Now, gates get to expand their stay over the weekend.
Golden said, “This is real, to be honest. To be honest. I will take back, selfish, personally, I just don’t want I don’t finish it,” Golden said. “We have a specific tight group. … This is a wonderful run.”
The fans spoke to the coach as the team sent their hotel first in the day. Golden described Terrapins as the “strange talented” coming into the game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
